Plans Change
by ThistleDragon
Summary: This wasn't the plan, but plans change. All Cressida needs is time to think, and Katniss and Peeta's toasting is the perfect place to do that, where no one knows what's going on - or at least that's what she thought.
1. Chapter 1

Cressida glanced at her dresser and her eyes caught the small brown card with black text poking out from behind a small black and white picture. She looked away quickly - she couldn't stop to dwell on that, nor on the person who was responsible. It wasn't that she didn't want this, but it had been a shock. For the last few weeks she had been so busy she'd not had much time to really think about it. But now, here, surrounded by the scent of his soap hanging in the air, the smell ofhim in _their_ bed, his clothes in the closet, his razor on the bathroom sink it was just too much. Running wasn't her style, but now, she just needed to get away from it all for a while. Take some time out to let it all sink in properly.

She moved quickly, after all, packing was something she was an expert in. For the last two and a half years, she'd travelled around Panem, and the more time they'd spent together, the more she enjoyed coming home.

Home – there were so many places she had called home, but they'd really just been bases - the capitol, thirteen, three. But here _felt_ like home. This was where she looked forward to returning after travelling the districts, documenting the rebuilding process. She'd left the capitol to fight with the rebellion, she'd left thirteen to fight with 451, both good and noble reasons, but she'd left three to come here for something far more selfish.

With her bag packed, Cressida walked out of the apartment and pulled the door behind her. She felt like it was running away from her problems – not that it really was a problem, not after everything, but still, she felt the guilt in the pit of her stomach as the lock clicked into place.  
She knew she shouldn't feel like that – he'd not be back for another ten days, and she'd only be gone for a week. But it still felt wrong keeping this from him.

She didn't bother calling for a car, being transported from one place to the next meant she'd spent enough time in government cars and hover crafts. Instead, she hopped on the back of a friend's motorcycle and they rode to the station. 

She stares out of the window, watching the landscape, and the districts as they pass through each one and onto the next.  
The train is fast, but not so fast as to miss the world around her. She likes to see the world from a different angle from time to time - it's good for her work.

She knows that Katniss can't stand them, that Peeta has flashbacks involving them. She knows that Haymich still tries to drink himself into stupor if he has to get on one, that he _does_ drink himself into a stupor to get on one. And she knows that it causes Annie to have a melt down if as soon as it's suggested – the remnants of a love gone too soon. She knows Beetee isn't in a rush to use them often, and that if anyone so much as mentions it to Joanna, then they should probably watch their backs for a day or two.

To be fair, it was a train that took them from their lives, from their families and friends and their districts, to being the playthings of the Capitol, but she doesn't mind them.

The trains aren't like the hover crafts that fly her and her crew from district to district, with a schedule to keep and a public to report to. This way, she has time before she gets to twelve, and time, is what she needs.

When the train pulls into twelve, she grabs her bag and jumps off the train onto the solid concrete of the platform. It's not been long since she was last here – a few months maybe – for the opening of the medicine factory. And she's not certain, but as she leaves the station, she's sure that the place seems lighter somehow. Like the factory opening really was the fresh start the district needed.

She knows her way to Katniss' house so she takes the opportunity to walk through the district as a visitor, rather than a director. She doesn't have to worry about where to place cameras, or what angles to shoot from. She can take in the rows of shops, the apothecary, the pharmacy – a sign of how the old and new can get along together in this brave new world. She can see the small cafe with the cup shaped sign above the door. There's a butchers, which she knows for a fact rely at least a little on Katniss and her skill with a bow and arrow. She can smell Mellark's bakery before she can see it, and when she does, she can't help but have a quick look in the window at the delicately decorated confections. And when she hears the uneven footsteps, she turns round.

"Cressida? What are you doing here? I thought - " his eyebrows furrow as he speaks.

"Hey!" She pulls her face into a smile, trying to forget what prompted her to come. "I got the invitation from Katniss, I know I didn't reply, but my schedule changed at the last minute." She realises that maybe she should have called ahead. "I hope it's ok, but I couldn't miss this."

He nods and smiles. "Of course, I just didn't expect you. Katniss will be so happy you could make it." She waits while he checks his watch. "I was just about to clean up and leave anyway, why don't I walk you to the house?"

"Thanks." Her smile is genuine this time. "It'll be good to see her."

"Right, wait here and I'll be back in a second."

She waits, and sure enough he's back in less than a minute, still covered in flour but minus the apron he'd worn when he came out to her. They walk in companionable silence for several minutes when he speaks.

"I'm glad you could make it Cressida."

She can't help but smile at the sincerity.

"I'm glad I could make it too." And she is glad that she decided to come, even if the real reason hadn't been so altruistic. Her stomach rumbles, and she realises how long it's been since she last ate.

He laughs then. It's good to hear. Peeta and Katniss have fixed each other, and if she's honest she knows how it feels to be fixed. _He's_ done that for her, and she adds that to her mental list of things to add into her weighing of her situation.

When they arrive at the house, Peeta opens the door and they step into the house. She can hear chatter floating through from the kitchen, and Peeta calls out. "Katniss! Hey, look who I found!"

"Cressida!" Katniss greets her with a bright smile, and a small hug. "I thought you couldn't make it?"

She considers for a moment what to say, and decides that honesty is the best policy. "I needed to get away – work can wait for a while." She doesn't elaborate - this isn't the time or the place. 

"Come on, were just about to eat. Pollux arrived earlier, we went hunting for dinner."

Cressida follows Katniss through to the kitchen. She's been here since the war ended, more than once, but it always feels strange, remembering how empty, how sad and cold the place was when they came after the bombings. She shakes her head a little, it won't do to dwell on that now.

Smiling, she greets Pollux – he'd accepted his invitation almost as soon as it had arrived. He moves forwards and hugs her, they're family him and her. After Castor died, they were all each other had, and she'd learned the sign language he used to communicate. There was something in the way he looked at her, an eyebrow raised, but if he'd any suspicions that there was something going on, he didn't let on – not even with his hands.

"Well, don't just stand there! Sit down!"

She laughed and turned round. "Haymich, good to see you as always."

The first time she'd come out to twelve, all three of them were a mess. Katniss was still withdrawn, pale under the fresh burns. Peeta still had a look in his eye that wasn't the sweet baker boy everyone in Panem had come to love, and Haymitch had fallen off the wagon in a big way. But now he seemed much more together, and she wasn't sure if it was of his own volition, or if it had been forced on him by the young couple. 

Together the four of them eat a simple dinner of cooked turkey, vegetables and fresh bread. Afterwards, they sit in the living room in front of the fire and eat cake Peeta has brought home from the bakery, she guiltily drinks coffee beside castor, while Katniss and Peeta drink tea. She watches them together, in the low light from the small lamp and the flames from the fire, talking about the toasting that's set for the day after tomorrow, before Haymitch and Pollux leave to go to Haymitch's, and Katniss, Peeta and herself head to their beds.  
She's only staying here for one night, and as she lies in her bed and looks up at the ceiling in the dark, she contemplates her own love life and the real reason she came here. 

The next day passes in a small flurry of activity. Johanna and Effie arrive on a small hovercraft with Annie, her toddler on her hip. Not long after, Hazelle and her children arrive, the relationship with Katniss mended as best it could be.

Once everyone is settled in their accommodations, they all eat together at Haymitch's. Thankfully her stomach had settled a few weeks ago, and the left over turkey and vegetables from last night's dinner have been turned into a hearty soup for tonight, accompanied by more of Peeta's freshly baked bread.

Though things are getting better in twelve, the people will always remember the almost starvation, and then the rationing of food in thirteen, and so they don't like to waste food. And of the people of the Capitol – her, Pollux, Effie – they'd all shunned the excesses they'd grown up with.

Afterwards, whilst they all gather round the fire, the sight of the little boy running around in his nightclothes after his bath had makes her feel sick with nerves all of a sudden, and so she slips out of the room un-noticed.

She's sitting on the back porch, both hands clasped tightly round her hot coffee cup, watching the geese in their pens.

"So, do you want tell me about it?"

She's startled, even though Hazelle's voice is quiet.

Cressida doesn't look up. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Longer than you'd like." Cressida looks up and watches Hazelle take a seat beside her on the step.

It's quiet for a few moments until Hazelle speaks again. "Does he know? About the baby?"

Cressida, shakes her head and looks round at the older woman. She can't decide if she's surprised or not, after all the woman has had 4 children. "Not yet."

She let's Hazelle contemplate her words for a second, then asks quietly. "How did you know?"

"A woman knows these things after four of her own." Hazelle shrugs, and then turns to smile kindly at Cressida. "And that's not your sweater," She nods towards the black sweater that she'd claimed as her own nearly two years ago. "Plus, there's only one reason a woman looks at food the way you did tonight."

"I hoped the sweater hid it."

Hazelle continues softly. "It wasn't planned, was it." It's a statement, not a question.

Cressida shook her head. "No."

Hazelle's face dropped. "You aren't keeping it?" she asked gently.

The silence is loaded as it feels like it stretches on for hours, but is really only seconds, and Cressida knows this is something she's going to have to talk about.

"I don't know."

"Why haven't you told him?"

"I didn't find out until after he'd left. I thought I should tell him face to face, but when I got home and I was surrounded by _him,_ his smell, his things, I don't know Hazelle, we've never really talked about this stuff, were both so busy, so young, we've barely been together for two years, what if...?" 

She loved him, so help her she did, but it wasn't easy to accept this turn of events. He'd left for five a week before she found out. When she had been in four a couple of weeks ago, she'd sought out Katherine Everdeen, that's how she'd gotten the small black and white photograph of the baby.

Hazelle nods solemnly, clearly understanding Cressida's worries. "How far are you?"

She knows exactly. "Fourteen weeks."

"You know, you can't hide that little bump from everyone much longer."

"I know."

She felt her shoulders slump in relief. It felt like a weight had been lifted, and of all the people that could have found out, she was glad it was someone who understood. 

Hazelle touched her shoulder and stood. "Come on, let's get back inside, or they're going to start to wonder where we are." 


	2. Chapter 2

The next day is dry and bright, and Cressida is surprised by how calm everything is. Every wedding she'd ever attended in the Capitol was a circus. Planned for months on end, every last tiny detail accounted for. Flowers, cakes, more food than anyone could possibly consume, the finest alcohol money could buy. Music, grand houses and spectacular gardens. Dresses and suits that threatened to out-do each other at every turn, though none ever upstaged the more and more outrageous wedding gowns. Everything was for show and more often than not a marriage was made for money not love.

But this, it was the complete opposite.

Just before noon, the small number of guests, as well as the couple, head to the new courthouse. They don't all go together – they're all far to conspicuous for that, and so they go in dribs and drabs, over almost an hour, with Annie, Hazelle and the kids bringing up the rear.

At capitol weddings, guests would sit either on the side of the groom, or the bride, but neither had family now, and there were so few guests, it didn't really matter, so they stood round Katniss and Peeta, in a small semi circle.

Effie dabs a tissue to her eye as Johanna simultaneously rolled hers, in a seemingly silent conversation with Pollux.  
Annie has Finn on her hip, trying to calm him as he claps his hands in glee at the room in general, and Hazelle stands with one of her boys at either side of her, while Haymitch stands close, holding Posy's hand, an unusual twinkle in his eye.

Cressida smiled as the little girl swished her dress from side to side, causing the soft pink fabric to flare out, the sequins round the skirt sparkling as they caught the sun, and she felt her heart skip a beat as she wondered if she was carrying a boy or a girl.

No one else is there, not even Kathrine Everdeen. Though to loose a child like that...  
Cressida feels her gut lurch and she hastily leaves the room, the nearest bathroom, and empties her stomach into the toilet bowl. When she returns, no one says a word, and Katniss glances at her with a furrowed brow just as the official starts to speak.

The ceremony is short; the judge asks if Katniss takes Peeta take each other to be lawfully married, they both say 'I do', and that's it. They sign marriage papers with Haymitch and Effie as witnesses, and together they all leave and return to the Mellarks' home. It feels strange, to refer to them as the Mellarks.

It's barely 2pm when they get to the front door, where Peeta scoops Katniss up and carries her across the threshold and into the sitting room.  
Together, Peeta and Katniss make a fire in the hearth, and then whilst Katniss gets the poker, Peeta fetches a loaf of freshly baked bread, intricately designed in some sort of braided pattern. He cuts a thick slice on the marble hearth, and Katniss spears it on the poker. Together, they hold the bred in the fire until it's golden brown on both sides, then break it in two, each eating their own half.

She's surprised by the small cheers and clapping, but she can't help but smile and join in.

Dinner doesn't disappoint. There's fresh rabbit stew - something she's become accustomed to over the last couple of years – served with boiled potatoes, not the awful ones like in 13, but baby ones, freshly picked from the back garden and coated in butter and freshly picked herbs. And there's crusty bread, fresh, white and still warm from the oven, to dip in the stew and soak up all the juices. She is in no doubt that Katniss caught the rabbit and picked the fresh herbs just that morning, and that Peeta was responsible for turning it into this meal.

By the time the wedding cake has been served and eaten, it's already dark outside. The small party and moves into the loving room where the same fire that the newly weds had started earlier still burns. As they all find a seat, everyone seems so happy and at ease – much more than they've probably ever been in their entire lives until this very day.

Cressida takes one of the two armchairs, and pulls her legs up, her knees curled in front of her, quite effectively masking her middle. She catches Hazelle's eye as she rubs some of the fire's heat into her legs, and the widow gives her a look so guarded from the others, it's was almost imperceptible.

She knows that Hazelle is an honest woman, and she knows that she has already asked so much of the kind woman by asking her to keep her secrets. Though she knows that they can't stay that way forever.

She's startled as Effie makes her way into the room handing out glasses from a tray.

"Here we are! Just a small glass you do understand," She glances over to Haymitch, as her sing song voice falters slightly before she carries on "I thought perhaps just a small toast to the new husband and wife!"

Katniss stands and walks over to Peeta sitting on the other armchair and he wraps his arms around his new wife. Cressida's never been more grateful for Effie and her customary faffing.

Haymitch raises his glass of water from his seat on the sofa with Posy balanced on one knee. "To Mr and Mrs Mellark then!"

"To Mr and Mrs Mellark."

He smiles and clinks his glass carefully with the little girl who giggles and takes a sip of her apple juice as everyone joins the toast, their voices cheerful and their glasses meeting.

The atmosphere in the room is light and subdued, everyone happy that the couple are together at last, happy and safe and probably as fixed as they'll ever be.  
Cressida watches Annie standing by the fire, gently swaying and humming, rubbing her son's back as he drifts off to sleep on her shoulder, and Cressida moves her hand to her small bump. She's never felt particularly maternal, but she feels it now, the light fluttering in her belly barely noticeable even to her.  
Chatter and laughter fills the room, but everything falls silent when there's a knock at the door.

To everyone gathered in that room, any unknown knock at the door was a reason to be on their guard. They all knew well that there was nothing to be frightened of, but that didn't stop them all exchanging worried glances with each other. Only the people in this room were supposed to know about today. She sees the men in the room bristle, even though everyone knows that at least three of the women in the room are just as capable as they are. And she knows, that if this is some stunt that Pleutarch has pulled, she'll wring his stocky little neck next time she sees him because Katniss and Peeta deserve a little privacy, especially today – and he'd told him as much when he'd called asking her to film the ceremony and toasting. She still wasn't sure how he'd even found out because she knew for a fact neither Katniss nor Peeta invited him, and that no one in this room would breathe a word of today to anyone. Even in her line of work she accepts that some things are meant to be private.

Peeta stands and walks towards the door. "I'll go. I was getting up anyway." He smiles as he stands up, but he's not a good liar.

He's so much better than he was, when you look at him now, it's only those bright blue eyes that you see, the black that once obscured them gone, but Cressida is sure she sees a flash of that darkness as he walks out of the room and she half expects him to ask Katniss if today, their marriage, was real or not. He still did that from time to time.

In the silence, only the crackle of the fire and the breathing of the small wedding party can be heard, It's so quiet in that room at that moment, that it feels like the air has stopped moving. Everyone strains to hear who it is at the door.

"You shouldn't be here."

There's no distinct voice, but at the sound of Peeta's words they all move to the edges of their seats and Haymitch pats Posy's leg in signal for her to slide into the empty seat beside him.

They all turn to the door when they hear Peeta's raised voice, there's no denying the guest is unwelcome.

"This is not the time, you need to leave."

Peeta's words raise the collective suspicious curiosity and Katniss is on her feet first, Haymitch right behind her as he stands quickly from his seat. Cressida supposes it's something the three of them will never grow out of, so deeply ingrained is their instinct to protect each other.  
Several pairs of feet, hers included, rush across the polished wooden floor as they follow the three victors of twelve out into the entrance hall.

She hears the gasps and exclamations of shock as one by one they come into view of the front door. Her stomach churns when she sees who it is, and she can't stop the words that come next.

"What are you doing here?"

He was supposed to be away for another week.

"I could ask you the same thing." He flicks the invitation between his fingers.

She tries to ignore the hurt in his voice as his eyes take all of her in, and she watches as they widen. She knows that if he's holding the invitation, he's seen the picture that she'd leant up against it. He jerks his head up and his eyes meet hers.

She can hide it from the others, but not him. None of the others have seen as much of her as he has, none of them grasp at her hips or trail searing kisses down her body the way he does.  
He knows her body better than her. And though the outfit she has on today is enough to obscure the view from most of the others, it's nowhere close to hiding it from his gaze.

Her mouth dries quickly in the silence and she takes a step back as he steps forwards and into the hall. Everyone is so surprised that they don't seem to have registered what's going on with him and her. Even Katniss doesn't seem to have put two and two together.

There's a desperation in Katniss' voice as she reels off a list of confused questions. "What are you doing here? Why now, why today of all days? I can't do this today." She stops, and takes a shaky breath and almost whispers. "We had the toasting today."

When he replies though he doesn't look at Katniss, but at her, that way he does, his head dipped but his eyes raised and Cressida can feel her heart thumping in her chest.

"I didn't come to see you, Katniss, I came to see Cress."

She's rooted to the spot as he walks over to her, ignoring everyone around them, and reaches out for her waist. She can feel the heat rising in her cheeks, and the contents of dinner churning in her stomach as he rests his hand on her hip and brushes his thumb gingerly on the side of the small bump she's tried so damned hard to conceal.

"Really?" He whispers.

She breathes deeply as the smell of him fills her nostrils, and she nods. She can't look away from his gaze, but before she can worry abut his reaction, he dips his head she can feel him smile against her lips as he kisses her hard.

She can hear the commotion around them as he wraps his arms around her and pushes a hand up into her hair as he cradles her head in his palm. She doesn't really register the questions or accusations until he pulls back and leans his forehead against hers and she can see the awe in his eyes as everything goes quiet.  
From the corner of her eye, she sees the reason for the sudden silence as Katniss step closer to them.

"Gale?" She hears Katniss baulk. "Gale's the father?"


	3. Chapter 3

Cressida watches as Katniss turns and leaves the room, and a low whistle breaks the uncomfortable and strained silence. "Well that's unexpected."

Everyone turns to look at Haymitch and he casually flicks his hair back and winks towards her and Gale. "Didn't think you'd have it in you Hawthorne." 

And almost as soon as Haymitch gets the last word out, everyone starts speaking around them, voices raised as they throw questions and accusations around like rapid gunfire.

"How could you do this to Katniss? She's supposed to be your friend!" Peeta accuses, then turns to follow his wife out of the room. 

Cressida can feel her heart race as she stands in the middle of the room and swallows thickly. She knew telling Katniss about her and Gale was never going to be easy, but this, this was a disaster. She'd never meant for Katniss to find out like this, not about her and Gale, not about any of it.

Rory mumbles from beside the open front door. "Unexpected. That's an understatement."

"Enough Rory, this isn't the time!" Hazelle admonishes her son.

"Well gorgeous, I take it that means you're off the market, because that kiss – and that," Johanna points to Cressida's abdomen, "doesn't look the result of a one night stand to me." 

"Johanna, a little decorum, please!" She hears Effie reprimand in a pinched tone. "However, I have to admit, this is certainly unexpected."

She only hears some of it because in the commotion, in the din of it all, Gale's silence is deafening; for the first time in her life Cressida doesn't know how to handle something and she sinks down on the second step of the staircase and hangs her head.

"Mom! Is Gale gonna have a baby? Is he? Oh please say he's going to have a baby!"

And those excited words, the innocence of Gale's little sister, causes tears to well in her eyes. She wishes it could be that simple.

"I don't know sweetheart, we'll just have to wait and see." Hazelle's kind voice answers Posy carefully.

Gale crouches down on his haunches in front of her and takes her hands in his, and when she glances up, she can't bear the look of hurt that's etched across his face. He knows. He knows why she didn't tell him, he knows why she's here and not at home in two.

"Please." He begs, his voice ragged. "Please, don't do this. Don't shut me out of this. I'm almost as much a part of this as you are, that's my baby too Cress. Please!'

The sight of his heart breaking is the final straw on top of the turmoil she's been holding in for the last two months, and when she closes her eyes, every last tear she hasn't shed rolls out of her eyes and down her cheeks in silent, heaving sobs and her voice wobbled as she spoke. "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to find out like this."

A fresh round of tears falls as she blinks, and then she feels the familiar weight of Hazelle's work weary hand on her shoulder.

Cressida turns to Hazelle and smiles weakly. For the last four years, she's been a guest in Hazelle's home when she's been filming in twelve. It had been Gale that had suggested it, said his Mom would enjoy having another strong woman to talk to. He'd been right, and they got along well. When Gale finally told his mom about them, she'd not treated Cressida any differently. She was still kind and polite and caring, and she never pried.

"Gale, maybe you should go home, all this stress, It's not good for..." Hazelle trailed off as Gale diverted his eyes to his mother.

"No mom," He grips her hands tighter but not so that it hurts. "I'm not leaving until I've spoken to Cress."

Gale turns his attention back to Cressida. "Why didn't you tell me Cress?" he whispered, looking at her bump. "Why?"

"Because," she sighed, "I couldn't think straight with everything. Everywhere I looked there you were. Your shirts in the closet, your razor at the sink, hell, the bed still smelled of you from before we both left." Cressida looks up and him and feels the tears drip off her chin and land on their hands. "We've never really talked about kids, We're so young, we both work hard Gale – you have your career, I have mine. We both have to travel so much and I - I didn't want to force this on you."

She takes a breath. "But I can't loose you because of it either."

He's not angry, the slump in his shoulders tells her as much. But she sees the hurt in his eyes and it kills her to see him like that. He just looks so – defeated.

"Hey." He murmurs, and strokes her tear stained cheek. "Cress, I love you, I'm not going anywhere." She hears him steel himself and then go on. "No matter what you decide."

Cressida feels guilty, she never meant to hurt Gale, and somehow it feels even worse than if she had wanted to end it, because it didn't matter what her head had tried to make her believe, her heart always knew that she was going to keep this baby and the sudden realisation hits her like a ton of bricks, and she stands abruptly and rushes out of the still open front door before anyone has time to react.

She doesn't know where to go and almost automatically her feet carry her away from the house and down through the town. She barely registers the buildings as she runs past them in the dark; the people of twelve had still to take the constant and even electricity supply for granted and only a few street lamps lit her way.  
It seems that in no time at all she's standing on the front step of the house she's come to regard as a second home and when she realises where she is she stops in her tracks.

This wasn't supposed to have happened. None of it. Growing up she had never wanted kids, even the idea of falling in love had seemed so alien to her in a society that valued possessions over human life. Sure, she'd known that as a capitol citizen, any children she might have wouldn't be subject to the games, but unlike so many around her, she couldn't separate capitol kids from those that the districts lost year after year. And now, here she was, in love with a man from twelve, and carrying his child. A child that thank in part to him, would never have to know the fear and hatred that he and his siblings had known. And her, she'd never have to go through the worry that Hazelle must have gone through year after year, child after child. She'd never have to face loosing her baby the way Kathrine Everdeen lost her daughter. Cressida shook as the enormity of everything swam in her mind and she wrapped her arms tightly round her belly, unable to fathom what it would feel like to loose the baby she'd already come to love so much. 

Cressida doesn't realise he's there until he's right in front of her, and she can't bring herself to look up at him. It's not something she ever imagined herself doing – running away from her problems like that, and she briefly wonders if it's the hormones that she knows are surging around her body.

Without a word, Gale sits down beside her on the step and for several long minutes, there's a peaceful silence between them. From the corner of her eye, she can see the way he's sitting; arms leaning on his knees as his hands dangle loosely, his shoulders are hunched over as he looks out into darkness of the street and beyond.

She knows he's a good man, she wouldn't be with him otherwise, but everything she'd said, it was true – she'd just never expected him to react the way he did to the sudden news. The silence stretches on for another few minutes, and just as she's about to speak, just about to turn and apologise for running out like that, he speaks.

"I'm sorry Cress, I am."

"You have nothing to be sorry for Gale."

"But it was me that..."

"No!" She breaks him off. "No. We both did this."

There's a silence again, then he murmurs. "I meant it, what I said back there. I'm not going anywhere," She hears him take in a breath, "even if you decide not to keep it."

She looks round at him. "I'm keeping it."

She watches as his head spins round to face her, frowning.

"You don't have to keep it because of me. I know why you came here cress, I get it."

She feels that now familiar roll of nausea in the pit of her stomach and it's nothing to do with the pregnancy.

"You wanted to make a choice. Me turning up here, I don't want you to choose this for the rest of your life because I turned up unannounced."

She knows he's telling the truth – Gale doesn't have it in him to lie about something like this - but that doesn't take the hurt out of his eyes, and Gales eyes she knows are the windows to his soul.

"I'm not. I guess I always knew I was going to keep it, deep down. You turning up just make me take notice of my own heart. I'm not keeping it for you or for me, I'm keeping it for us. I want this baby Gale."

He takes her face in his hands and brushes his thumb lightly over the small scar just on her left cheekbone, the only evidence that she had been hit by shrapnel that day in the capitol.

"I was going to do this at home." He drops his hands and one reaches into his pocket and he pulls out a small pouch. "Paylor promoted me, that's why I was home early." He loosens the drawstring and tips the pouch upside down. "Cress, you have to believe me. I love you, no matter what. I can't lie, it'd break my heart if you..."

She can hear him struggling and her face flushes with guilt as he speaks again.

"I love you, I'm not going to leave you, and damn it, this isn't what I thought it would be like, but this, here, with you and - well it just feels right. Marry me Cress, please?"

He opens his fist and reveals a small, delicate ring. The gold glints in the light of the street lamp. A thin gold band and a small, round stone – she can't see it properly until he picks it up and holds it out to her – the green shines the way it catches the light.

Cressida blinks. She had never imagined that this could end in anything other than a complete disaster.

"It's not much, but I figured you aren't like the others." She knows that he means the rest of the capitolites. "But I wanted to do something."

He looks out into the darkness again. "Before the rebellion, before the war, people here – they didn't even have a wedding ring." He shrugs and then continues. "People from the seam, people like me, my family, eating was more important, surviving was more important. The ones that did have them, they were usually the merchants, and even then, it would be passed down, generation to generation."

She feels even more guilty now. He's here, giving her this, when less than half a decade ago people in this very district were struggling to eat enough to stay alive. She 's speechless as he rushes on, barely stopping for breath.

"But it's not like that now, people have enough, they have food and homes and you helped them Cress, and you deserve something special."

She isn't sure what to say as he pauses and turns back to her. She didn't fight for the freedom of Panem to be rewarded with jewels, she did it for the kids that were reaped, year after year, for the parents that had to watch as their children were pitted against one another in a bid to survive. And for what? For the enjoyment of the capitol?

"It's from just outside twelve, we found it when they tested the land, there's not much, so it's small, but they said it's emerald – you probably know more about that than me, but it's from home, you know, and I thought maybe with me and you, it sort of made sense and…"

She didn't let him finish as she leant forward and took his face in her hands. His eyes searched hers. He never knew how much he gave away in those deep dark eyes.

"Please Cress, say something."

"I'm keeping it Gale. The ring, the baby, you. I want it all." 

She barely notices him slip the ring on her finger as he kisses her, deep, hungry, and the saltiness of her own tears taste almost sweet against her lips when they finally break apart.

"Come on," he whispers, his forehead still resting against hers, "we should get you inside, it's getting cold out here and you're shaking like a leaf." He rubs her arms briskly. "Here Mom gave me a key, said we could have her room – said you knew the place as well as your own."

Without a word, Cressida takes his hand, stands up, and leads him inside. 


End file.
